1642

Essay Preview: 1642

There were many important people in history that were born and living in the year 1642. Isaac Newton and Taylor Edward are two of the many important people of 1642. The Caroline age was also a part of the year 1642.

Isaac Newton was a very inspirational person of the year 1642. Many different kinds of people that out Isaac Newton to be not only one of the greatest figures in the history of mathematics but also on r of the smartest intellects of the human race. Beside his explanation of the laws of motion and gravitation and his discoveries concerning light and colornks development of calculus is regarded as the greatest creation in all of mathematics. His dispute with german mathematicion and philosopher Gohfried Leibniz (1616-1716) over calculus was one of the longest and bitterest scientific disputes. In the same year, Italian mathematician Galileo (1564-1642) died, Isaac Newton was born in the village of wools Thorne, near Lincolnshire, England. So small and sickly was the premature infant Newton that no one thought he would survive. He was so tiny that he could have fit in a quart jar. Newton's father, also named Isaac, died before he was born. When Newton's mother remarried three years later after his father's death, he went to live with hi maternal grandmother. Having never known his father and feeling angry sand jealous that his mother had another husband, Newton was often resentful and solitary while living with his grandmother. Newton was sent to Kings School in Grantham at age 12, but he spent most of his spare time building models and many devices of all sorts. He built kites with lanterns in them, a mill powered by a mouse, and water clocks, he also made sketches of plants, animals, and birds. At school he showed no special ability, but when pushed by the class bully, who was also first in the class, Newton managed to beat

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him in academics and in an actual fight. When his mother took him out of school at 17, intending for him to work at home and become a farmer, Newton was uninterested, lazy, and distracted. His uncle and the master of Grantham School agreed that he should make better use of his obvious intelligence. They both persuaded Newton's mother to change her mind and she allowed him to prepare for a university education. By June 1661, Newton was committed to Trinity College at Cambridge University. He ignored the traditional course work, which was based on Greek philosopher Aristotle, and read many of the great scientific books of the day. Since he also found the work of Greek geometer Euclid of Alexandria to be"trifling""(trivial), he instead read the works of German astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler, French Algebraist and philosopher Rene Desciates, and Italian Galileo among many others. During his later years Newton enjoyed power and worldly success. Newton was elected president of the Royal Society in 1703 and was annually reelected until his death. In 1704 he published his second major work, the Opticks, based largely on work completed decades before. He was knighted in 1705. Although his creative years had passed, Newton continued to exercise a profound influence on the development of science. In effect, the Royal Society was Newton's instrument, and he played it to his personal advantage. . In the end, the